The Turing Podcast
The Turing Podcast
The Alan Turing Institute
Episodes
About
Reviews
Promote
Weathering Change: FastNet and the Future of UK Forecasting
33 minutes Posted Jul 22, 2026 at 7:00 am.
Intro
Introducing Scott Hosking and Kirsten Dale
The Raucous Revolution in weather forecasting of 2022
how AI weather prediction models work and how they differ from traditional weather prediction models
Why traditional physics based models still remain important in forecasting
The training data AI models rely on
The uses of AI weather models and the advantages of being computationally light
Turing’s partnership with the MET Office – why is the weather important?
Introducing Fastnet: How cutting-edge weather models can tackle climate insecurities
How AI weather models differ from LLMs
How Fastnet uses an  icosahedral mesh to map the Earth.
Grey Swan events and Super El Niño
Comparators to Fastnet and introducing a regional model for the uk
Improving the accuracy of fastnet
Green AI
The importance of diversity in AI modelling
Why it is important for the UK to have its own weather model
The future of Fastnet
Outro and find out more
Intro
Introducing Scott Hosking and Kirsten Dale
The Raucous Revolution in weather forecasting of 2022
How AI weather prediction models work and how they differ from traditional weather prediction models
Why traditional physics based models still remain important in forecasting
The training data AI models rely on
The uses of AI weather models and the advantages of being computationally light
Turing’s partnership with the MET Office – why is the weather important?
Introducing Fastnet: How cutting-edge weather models can tackle climate insecurities
How AI weather models differ from LLMs
How Fastnet uses an  icosahedral mesh to map the Earth
Grey Swan events and Super El Niño
Comparators to FastNet and introducing a regional model for the UK
Improving the accuracy of Fastet
Green AI
The importance of diversity in AI modelling
Why it is important for the UK to have its own weather model
The future of Fastnet
Outro and find out more
0:00
33:21
Download MP3
Show notes
In an era of increasingly unpredictable extreme weather, getting the forecast right is no longer just about what you need to wear during your morning commute. It’s about national resilience, food security, and technological sovereignty.
In this episode, host Amelia Jabry is joined by Dr Scott Hosking (Mission Director for Environmental Forecasting at the Alan Turing Institute) and Professor Kirstine Dale (Chief AI Officer at the Met Office) to introduce FastNet: a groundbreaking, home-grown AI weather model developed right here in the UK.
Together, they demystify how FastNet uses 3D geometry (specifically, an icosahedral mesh) to map our round planet, how it spots patterns across 40 years of climate data. They also explore why we still desperately need physics to prepare for unprecedented ‘Grey Swan’ climate events like a looming Super El Niño. They tackle the vital questions of making our AI sustainable, the critical importance of a diverse AI workforce, and why the UK must maintain its own independent weather modelling capabilities rather than relying on global tech giants.
Read more about FastNet here: https://www.turing.ac.uk/research/research-projects/fastnet
 
Chapter markers
This podcast uses Podbean for stats, and dynamic audio, and Podtrac for stats. Learn more on this podcast's About tab. Dynamic Audio may cause this episode's timestamps to be slightly off.
← See all 69 episodes of The Turing Podcast
Podbay © 2026 Fancy Soups
About